<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>traitorous lungs, stomachs, hearts by maddy_does (favefangirl)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29857125">traitorous lungs, stomachs, hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/favefangirl/pseuds/maddy_does'>maddy_does (favefangirl)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marvel Fluff Bingo 2021 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Caretaking, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Post-Avengers (2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:28:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29857125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/favefangirl/pseuds/maddy_does</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>New York was just the beginning. There's a new threat brewing, and the Avengers must once more step up to save the world. When Tony takes it upon himself to stop it before it can happen, Steve as his leader, his <i>friend</i> must help carry the burden.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Marvel Fluff Bingo 2021 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183655</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Marvel Fluff Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>traitorous lungs, stomachs, hearts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <b><br/><span class="big">Tags will be added as chapters are. Please reread them to ensure you are still comfortable with the contents of the fic. Thank you.</span><br/></b><br/></p>
</div>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Read on Tumblr :)<br/>Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark<br/>Warnings: Canon Divergence / Post-Avengers (2012)<br/>Word Count:<br/>Square Filled: Free Space</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Jarvis, where’s Tony?”</p><p>It’s still bizarre, talking to a disembodied omniscient voice robot. Though, in the year he’s been out of the ice, everything has been bizarre for Steve. He still doesn’t quite understand it all - going into the ice, the serum saving him, waking up almost 70 years later to find that there are aliens and Gods trying to take over the world. At least he could just punch the Nazis. He’s trying to keep up, though, because he has a team now that are relying on him. He can’t afford to let this get on top of him and let them all down. He’s the captain, the leader, and he has to keep them alive and safe, on <em>and</em> off the battlefield.</p><p>“He’s in the lab, Mr Rogers,” comes Jarvis’ crisp reply. Steve keeps telling him (it?) to just call him <em> Steve </em>, but then he finds himself arguing with a real life robot, and that’s just a step too weird for him. He’s managed to get him to drop the ‘captain’, so that’s something at least.</p><p>Steve sighs and steps back into the elevator, pushing the button for the lab. He probably could’ve just gone straight there - he’s hardly surprised that Tony isn’t in his apartment getting ready for bed like a reasonable person. Since Loki and the Chitauri, Tony has spent most of his time holed up in his lab, working and researching like a madman while the rest of the team sat high above him, getting to know and learning to trust each other. Steve knows obsession better than most, and it landed him in a lab of his own being injected within an inch of his life to be made into the perfect soldier. He fears how far Tony will push his.</p><p>He reaches the subterranean lab with a ding before the doors slide open. Steve takes a cautious step inside and looks around until he spots Tony hunched over a workbench on the other side of the room. Even from the distance, Steve can see Tony’s lips moving as he mumbles to himself. He scrubs a hand through his already dishevelled hair in a way that looks hard enough to hurt. Dark circles line his eyes, and he’s wearing the same clothes Steve saw him in the last time he was down here, which was days ago. Steve feels his heart squeeze, and he shakes his head sadly.</p><p>“Oh, Tony,” he mumbles, before walking over purposefully. “Hey,” he greets once he’s in earshot. “You’ve been working all day, maybe you should go to bed?”</p><p>Tony looks up with bleary eyes, which take a second to focus on Steve’s face. “Steve?” He squints then rubs at his eyes with the base of his palms. “I’m fine,” he protests, shaking his head and going back to the computer screen. </p><p>Steve frowns at him, and rounds the bench. Names and equations flash on the screen, but Steve can’t make anything out of it. “What’re you working on?” Steve asks, peering over Tony’s shoulder.</p><p>“I’m trying to find the harbinger Loki told us about,” Tony replies, not looking up from the screen as his fingers dance across a holographic keyboard so fast Steve’s eyes can barely keep up. “If we can find him and get the information he has about this Thanos guy then we can prepare.”</p><p>“Tony,” Steve says softly.</p><p>“Loki said they’re close to home so I’m looking through the files Shield holds on all its employees. Hopefully we’ll get something.” He barely seems aware of Steve, pressing his face closer to the screen, scarcely even looking at his hands as he types. </p><p>“Tony,” Steve repeats louder, taking hold of Tony’s shoulders and trying to guide him away from the computer. “You need to rest.”</p><p>Tony shrugs him off violently. “<em>No</em>, I need to find the harbinger. We’ll have no hope against Thanos if we don’t know what to prepare for.”</p><p>Steve sighs and shakes his head. He’d heard about Tony Stark, the playboy billionaire who likes fast cars and pretty women; and Tony Stark, the man in the iron suit who would fight to save the world; and even Tony Stark, the genius who couldn’t take anything seriously. No one had bothered to warn Steve about Tony Stark, the man who would stop at nothing to keep people safe, even putting himself on the line in order to achieve it. The vice-like grip on his heart tightens just looking at the desperate man in front of him.</p><p>“Tony,” Steve says, and this time when he pulls Tony away, he uses a lot more of his strength. “You’ll find him, I know you will. But first, you need to get some rest.”</p><p>“No I-”</p><p>“Tony,” Steve snaps, and Tony finally deigns to turn his head and look at him. “You’re no good to anyone in this state. You need to rest. A sharper mind will make you work faster, and when it comes to the fight, you’ll be stronger then, too.”</p><p>Tony looks at him, and Steve is sure Tony’s going to shake him off again, throw some infuriating quip over his shoulder and go right back to hunching over the screen and driving himself to an early grave. Short of carrying him up to his suite, Steve doesn’t know how else he can get him out of the lab if he doesn’t want to go. Fortunately, something in Tony’s expression softens, and he nods slightly. Steve exhales a little in relief, then begins to lead him into the elevator. </p><p>Tony stands to one side as Steve presses the button for his floor, and Steve can almost see the effort it takes for him to just hold himself up. Steve knows Tony won’t let him see him weak, and so he also knows he needs to get him to bed as soon as possible, before the exhaustion starts doing irreparable damage. Neither of them say anything as the elevator jerks into life and pulls them up through the tower. Steve doesn’t know what there is to say, and he’s not convinced Tony would be able to hold an intelligent conversation even if he did.</p><p>They reach Tony’s floor, and step off the elevator in sync. They round the corner into the main living area, and Steve is shocked by the mess. He’d only stepped off the elevator when he’d been here before, so had missed the chaos of clothes strewn everywhere, dirty plates in the sink, and piles and piles of paperwork and blueprints thrown haphazardly over almost every surface. He inhales, but says nothing as Tony walks over to the coffee maker and turns it on. </p><p>Steve doesn’t think coffee is the best choice right now, but it does provide Tony with a distraction while he ducks into the bathroom and turns on the taps of the bath. He puts in the plug, then begins tossing in at random the bath products that are lying around - the same ones Nat has delivered to his floor - with salts and bubbles and something that makes the water feel like silk. Steve doesn’t know how any of them help, but with the state Tony is in, he’ll try anything.</p><p>While the bath is running, he heads back out into the kitchen, where Tony is leaning against the counter, staring unseeingly over the rim of his coffee cup. He looks so fragile, Steve has to take a second to swallow against a lump in his throat. “Hey,” he says softly, and it takes an age for Tony to turn his head and meet Steve’s eye. When he does, he seems surprised to see him. “Let’s get you in the bath, alright?”</p><p>He leads Tony gently through the living room into the bathroom, and turns off the taps. He checks the water and it feels like a good temperature - not too cold, but not hot enough to burn. He takes the coffee cup from Tony’s hands and places it on the side. He hesitates a moment, then says, “Alright, I’ll be just through there.” He nods decisively, then begins to walk out of the room.</p><p>At the last moment, he turns back to check Tony has understood, (the comparatively bright lights away from the lab seem to have dazed him, and perhaps the adrenaline that was pushing him to work has worn off), and gets an eyeful of the muscles of Tony’s back shifting beneath his skin as he pulls off his vest. Steve quickly turns around, feeling himself going bright red, and closes the door. He takes a moment to catch his breath once the solid wood is between them, and has to swallow a couple of times. He squeezes his hands into fists, then slowly lets them go. Once he feels in control of his own body again, he gets to work.</p><p>By the time Tony emerges from the bathroom wearing a clean pair of sweats and a t-shirt, Steve has bundled all the dirty clothes into a laundry basket to take down with him when he leaves. The papers, of which Steve could make no sense, are piled neatly on the coffee table, and the miscellaneous dirty dishes are washed and stacked on the drying rack for the next time Tony needs them. Tony looks around like he doesn’t recognise his own apartment, then looks at Steve. Something flashes across his eyes, but he quickly looks away before Steve can get any real read on it.</p><p>“I think you should get some sleep now, Tony,” Steve says gently. “You can get back to work in the morning once you’re rested.”</p><p>Tony nods, then stumbles in the direction of his bedroom. Just before he disappears behind the door, he looks over his shoulder and mumbles a quiet, “thank you”, before Steve is faced with nothing but a door.</p><p>Steve nods, even though Tony can’t see him, and grabs the laundry basket from the side. He walks to the elevator and says quietly, “Jarvis, turn off the lights.”</p><p>Equally as quiet, Jarvis replies, “Yes, Steve,” and the apartment is bathed in darkness.</p><p>Steve steps into the elevator and presses the floor for the utilities. He leans back against the wall and closes his eyes. All he can see is the skin of Tony’s back, the curve of his spine, the sweatpants hugging his hips. He sighs and opens his eyes as the elevator comes to a halt. He thinks once he gets some rest, whatever these strange feelings he has bubbling in his chest will dissipate. He thinks of the way his heart had squeezed when he’d first seen Tony in the labs, the deep, intense sadness he’d felt at seeing him vulnerable and fragile, and decides he won’t hold his breath.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>running someone a bath and cleaning up after them is fluff, right? <i>right?</i></p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if you wanna leave a comment or a kudos they're much appreciated! especially let me know if there's something you think i forgot to tag!</p><p>i'm taking prompts! if you're interested please drop the prompt in the comments below. if you do send a prompt be prepared for me to take fifty years to fill it because school is so hard (or, i guess, uni now, lol), but i promise i'll try! come say hi on tumblr: <a href="https://maddy-does.tumblr.com/">@maddy-does</a></p><p>thanks for reading, have a wonderful existence.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>